The Genetic Opera Ghost
by Caelia di Mekio
Summary: Phantom cast in Repo... with a twist LND reference and quite a few OCs! Please see my dA page for detailed character match-ups.
1. 21st Century Cure

Gerard Carierre smirked, examining the latest of his 'Wanted' signs. Like anyone was really going to pay attention to him when there were bigger things to fear. He began to recite smugly. "Out from the night from the mist steps a figure. No one really knows his name for sure  
>He stands at six foot six, head and shoulder... Pray he never comes knocking at your door...<br>Say that you once bought a heart or new corneas... And somehow never managed to square away your debts... He won't bother to write or to phone you... He'll just rip your still-beating heart from your chest!"  
>"REEEEEPO MAAAAN!" A siren blared through the night as a young woman ran past him, and Gerard felt a stab of pity. One of the over-dues, most likely.<br>"You could run, you could hide, you could try to... But he always has a way of finding you... He will come at your weakest hour... When no one is around who might rescue you! And none of us are free from this horror...For many years ago we all fell in debt... New body parts were needed to perfect our image... And until our debts are clear, we will live in fear...of the . . ."  
>"REEEEEPO MAAAAN!" Gerard pulled away quickly as the silhouette of the Repo Man appeared in the distance. One less thing for him to deal with.<br>XxXxX  
>Erik Destler pulled a photograph out of the file he'd received and looked at it. Then at his elder son. Then back down at the photograph: Giovanni proudly stacking the remains of three bloodied men into a pyramid. "Repulsive." He said the single word with such venom that Giovanni sank three inches deeper into his chair. He examined the next one with even greater disgust, glaring at his daughter, both the Zydrate-riddled one lying in the street that the photograph displayed, and the Carlotta... Amber lolling lazily on the couch in front of him. His fists tightened the most, however, at the sight of his middle failure, Petrie, peeling off the face of a young woman. "You disgust me," he hissed. "Out. All three of you. Now." They didn't object as they hurried out of the room, and Dr. Firmin stepped in through the elevator, trembling as he handed Erik the clipboard.<br>"I... I'm sorry, Mr. Destler... I'm afraid it's terminal..." Erik examined the report. So, it was true. The lung damage really wasn't as minor as they'd thought. "You don't have much time."  
>Erik examined the report for a minute, then slammed his fist down on a button. A Punjab lasso shot down from the ceiling and seized Firmin around the neck. The doctor kicked and squirmed for a moment before hanging limply. Erik stormed towards the elevators, his two attendants close behind him.<br>"Maggots! Vermin!" he spat in disgust. "You want the world for nothing! Commence your groveling... Erik, your king, is dying. Even Erik Destler cannot prevent this passing. Who will inherit GeneCo? I'll keep those vultures guessing... I'll keep those vultures guessing... I'll keep those vultures guessing!"  
>XxXxX<br>Charlotte de Chagny pulled off her gas mask, and fluffed her thin brown curls. Alongside her, her brother, Gustave had already smoothed his blond bowl cut and was pulling out a sandwich and his book of insects. Charlotte traced her fingers along the photograph of their mother, dressed in a creamy white dress and sparkly star-shaped pins in her hair, a faint smile on her lips. "Hey, Mom," she whispered softly.  
>"Oh, wow!" Gustave gasped, pointing at a little fluorescent bug scuttling along the grave marker of the crypt, right below the words CHRISTINE DAAE DE CHAGNY: AN ANGEL ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN. "Look, Char! It's a new one!"<br>"Then get it. What do I care about flies?" Charlotte flipped her hair over one shoulder, like the girls on TV sitcoms did. Gustave nodded, and scrambled to grab his tin can for catching his various insects. But as he did, the bug slipped out the iron bars on the door. "No way."  
>"Please, Char? I promise this will be quick. It's in my sight! I'll capture it-"<br>Charlotte gripped his arm, looking him straight in the eye. "Then run back inside?"  
>He nodded. "And be back home in time." Charlotte carefully opened the door, following her brother. A shiver ran up her spine, and she wished for coverage beyond the pale blue sweater set she was wearing.<br>"Industrialization has crippled the globe..." a voice crooned softly.  
>"Enjoy GeneCo's day and nighttime formula of Zydrate." The loudspeakers blared. Charlotte wondered why they bothered putting up a PA system in a graveyard. It wasn't like corpses could use Zydrate.<br>"Nature failed as technology spread..." Charlotte's head snapped left and right, looking for the source of the deep, arousing voice. She could no longer hear the various announcements about Zydrate, only the mystery man. "And in this wake, a market erected...An entire city built on top of the dead!" A GeneCop passed by and Charlotte pulled Gustave out of the way, behind the grave of someone named Glenn Slater.  
>And as she turned she found herself staring at a boy, maybe a few years older than she was. His face was a pale marble color, his lips unnaturally dark, or maybe it was the other way around. His hair was tangled and matted, much like the furry collar of his long beat-up coat. He gave her a small smile before turning back to the...the corpse in front of him. Charlotte pulled Gustave into her chest, trying to keep the ten year old from seeing. "And you can finance your bones and your kidneys... For every market, a sub-market grows..." Charlotte's eyes moved between the doors, the GENcops, and the boy, she was sure now, who was a GraveRobber. She couldn't calculate the best time to run. The GraveRobber continued, his soft smile turning into a twisted grin. "But best you be punctual with making your payments... Lest it be you on the concrete below."<br>He pulled out a syringe and stuck it in the dead woman's nose. Charlotte fought the urge to vomit as he pulled back the lever, a glowing blue liquid filling the vial. "It's quick. It's clean. It's pure. It could change your life, rest assured. It's the 21st century cure," he gave a little bow, rising slowly. "And it's my job to steal and rob GRAVES!" As he screamed the last part, a dozen lights snapped onto them.  
>"Please, stop!" Charlotte yelled, scrambling to stand, Gustave right behind her. GENcops were beginning to swarm, but the GraveRobber didn't seem to care.<br>"No! No! No!" Gustave wailed as the door of their mother's crypt slammed shut. "Now what?"  
>"This way!" Both sibling whirled to see the GraveRobber banging on a grave in the wall. It shattered, revealing a dimly lit mountain of corpses. "Jackpot!" he cried gleefully. "So why care for these petty obsessions? Your designer heart still beats with common blood. And what if you could have genetic perfection? Would you change who you are if you could?" He bent down to draw out a new vial of blue liquid, that Charlotte suddenly realized had to be street Zydrate. "'Cos it's quick, it's clean, and it's pure!"<br>"No, we shouldn't be here," Gustave whimpered, clinging to Charlotte tightly.  
>"It could change your life, rest assured."<br>"We have got to get home..." Charlotte moaned, trying to take his attention off the dead bodies, especially since the smell was starting to make her dizzy.  
>"It's the 21st century cure."<br>"This cannot be happening!"  
>"And it's my job to steal and rob GRAVES! GRAVES!" As he shouted the word over and over, Charlotte felt fingers clamp around her arms, pulling her back into the graveyard.<br>"Hey! Let go!" She kicked and squirmed. "Please, we just want to get home..."  
>"Char..." Gustave sobbed quietly. "My head hurts..." Charlotte, too, could feel the symptoms setting in. Her stomach was heaving, her temples were pounding, and it was getting harder to breathe.<br>"Let them go," a smooth baritone voice commanded over the loudspeaker.  
>"Hey!" A new voice cut in. Charlotte thought she recognized it, but she couldn't tell.<br>"Medicate immediately. Blood pressure warning. Blood pressure warning. Medicate immediately." Her bracelet blared with Gustave's in perfect synchronization. "Blood pressure warning."  
>XxXxX<br>Her eyes flickered open, and she tried to speak hoarsely. "Dad...?"  
>"Hey, that was a close one." Raoul de Chagny leaned in, the fluorescent lights reflecting subtly off the high forehead that was the result of his receding caramel brown hair.<br>"Dad..." Gustave croaked. Charlotte turned to see her brother, his bald head exposed as he lay in bed. Sometimes, it was so easy to forget her little brother's hair was a wig.  
>"Shh... too close..." Raoul pulled aside the safety curtains that separated the children's beds.<br>"Dad, what happened?" Charlotte whispered, cautiously pushing herself up.  
>"You're going to be alright, that's all that matters," Raoul crooned, pressing a hand to Gustave's forehead and placing his stethoscope on the inside of Charlotte's elbow.<br>"Were we outside?"  
>"No, Char," he said gently.<br>"There were these bodies…" Gustave whispered, offering his arm for the same checkup.  
>Raoul shook his head. "You missed your medicine, and fell unconscious."<br>"They were all dead…" Gustave insisted.  
>"Nonsense. Please, be more cautious. You could go into shock."<br>Charlotte knew Gustave was telling the truth, so how could their father deny it? "But it was real, Dad!" Raoul gave her a very cold look while passing Gustave his blonde wig.  
>"I am the doctor and I'm your father."<br>"Didn't imagine this!" Gustave slammed his hand down on a pillow, yanking the wig out of Raoul's hands.  
>"Please, Gustave, drop it…"<br>"Couldn't have fathomed this!" Charlotte agreed angrily.  
>"Please, Charlotte, stop it."<br>"Dad, we could smell the dead!"  
>"You could've di- You scared me to death!" The children were silent for a moment, watching him stare up at the portrait of their mother. "The blood disease that took your dear mother from us passed from her, and into your veins. I'd be lost if I were to lose you. I will stop at nothing to keep you safe."<br>Charlotte carefully rose, and walked over to place a hand on his shoulder. "We'll take our meds, Dad, don't you worry," she whispered.  
>"Just until I find a cure…" Raoul kissed her forehead. "Christine…"<br>"Charlotte, Dad."  
>" I know, sweetheart… I just meant that your mother, rest her soul, would be so proud of you. Though you cannot see her, she is here with you," He handed her two glasses with their pills, beginning to sing the lullaby Charlotte could faintly remember her mother singing almost eleven years ago. "We will always be there for you, in your time of need. Children, you're the world to me." He walked out the door and closed it, and the children heard the jingle of a dozen keys as he locked the door. "Charlotte, make sure both of you take your medicine."<br>Charlotte gulped down her glass, slamming it on the mantel in fury. Gustave moved towards his miniature piano, balancing his medicine on top. He played out a few melancholy chords, singing softly. "I'm...infected…"  
>Charlotte sighed, joining in. "I'm infected by your genetics!"<br>"Gustave, I'm the doctor!" The little boy pointed his finger imperiously, his voice pompous.  
>"Charlotte, I'm your father!" Charlotte stuck out her chest mockingly, thrusting aside the curtain to let Gustave hover over an invisible form.<br>"Oh, children, that was close! Take your medicine!" they shouted together, flopping down side by side. "We're infected by your genetics!"  
>"Charlotte, you're my patient!"<br>"Gustave, be more patient!"  
>"You have limitations! Don't go chasing flies! I must be protective! You cannot be reckless! That's what is expected when you are infected! We're infected by your genetics! We're infected by your genetics!" They started pounding on stuffed animals as they sang, trying to release every bit of rage.<br>"And I don't think that we can be fixed!" Gustave wailed.  
>"No, I don't think that we can be fixed! Tell us why, oh why are our genetics such a bitch?" Charlotte picked up one of the medical tomes and slung it across the room at their mother's picture in fury. "It's this blood condition! Damn this blood condition! Mother, can you hear me? Thanks for the disease! Now we're both sequestered, part of the collection!"<br>"That's what is expected when you are infected!" Gustave banged as many keys as he could at one time.  
>"That's what is expected when you are infected! That's what is expected when you are infected! How much of it's genetics? How much of it is fate? How much of it depends on the choices that we make? He says we have her eyes, did we also inherit his shame? Is heredity the culprit? Can we stop it, or are we its slaves?" They tried in vain to open the doors, sinking down to the floor in defeat.<br>"We're infected by your genetics!" Gustave let out a desperate sigh.  
>"We're infected by your genetics!" Charlotte repeated miserably.<br>"What hope have two kids who are sick? Our dream of a life past this fence… It really makes no difference… 'cause we know that we'll never be fixed…" They stood, identical feelings of anger burning in their veins.  
>"Tell us why, oh why are our genetics such a bitch?" Charlotte screamed, hurling a pillow at the curtains covering the window, allowing just a sliver of light to escape. "Oh, I want to go outside…. Outside…" she whimpered softly, opening the latch and stepping onto the balcony.<br>"Oh, I want to go outside…. Outside…" Gustave repeated sadly. Charlotte wrapped her arm around his shoulders.  
>"We'll get out for good, one day. We were out tonight, we can get out again, I know it."<br>"But Dad said…"  
>"He'll find the cure, Gustave. Then we can go to school, and you can show everyone the stuff you write…"<br>"Only if you're the one to sing it, Char."  
>"Okay, so, on our to-do list: stop making Dad worry, so he can get the cure, THEN get outside for good."<br>"And meet Blind Meg!"  
>"Or kiss a random boy!"<br>"Do whatever we want!"  
>"I love you, bro," Charlotte whispered, kissing the top of his head.<br>"Ew! You have cooties!"  
>"Shut up."<p> 


	2. 18 Years Ago

RAOUL'S STORY:

18 YEARS AGO:

Despite one tragedy GeneCo had solved, there was another that not even Erik Destler had been able to solve: the burning of the Genetic Opera House, and the loss of the voice of rising soprano, Christine Daaé within the blaze. Raoul was the one assigned to treat the beautiful, injured young woman. One thing led to another, and within a year, they were married and little Charlotte had entered the world.

10 YEARS AGO:

Two lovers, Raoul and Christine. A happy marriage, a beautiful child and a baby on the way. They had the perfect life…. Until Christine and Charlotte got sick. Raoul thought he had found the cure… but Christine was to be the one to save her daughter by proving him wrong… fatally. With time running out, and Christine losing blood, Raoul could only save one.

XxXxX

"Assassin… Murderer... Monster… Raoul… Raoul… Raoul… Raoul… Raoul… Raoul…" He had been so close to losing them tonight...

"Where did our children go? It's me they must escape. My burdens I can't erase. The mother I might have saved." His eyes strayed, as they often did, to the case containing Christine's body.

A whisper ran through his head: Assassin... Murderer... Monster…

He placed a hand on the glass, close enough to have stroked her cheek. "Christine, I need you now…. Look what I've become. The nightmare that they should fear is the father you left alone!"

Assassin... murderer... Monster….Assassin... murderer... Monster….Assassin... murderer... Monster….

"The years roll by without you, Christine. Ten long years have come and gone. I raised our children with the best intentions. But there is something I can't tell them. I am lost without you here. I am only living out a lie! The children can never leave. They are my everything. Nothing can bring you back. Our kids is all I have!"

Assassin... murderer... Monster….Assassin... murderer... Monster….Assassin... murderer... Monster….

"The years roll by without you, Christine. Ten long years have come and gone. I raised our children with the best intentions. But there is something I can't tell them. I am lost without you here. I am only living out a lie!" The secret passage behind the fire swung open.

"Assassin! Assassin! Assassin!"

"I'm the monster! I'm the villain!" The syringe on his wrist-phone sunk into his skin, and the serum he'd been using since her death began to take over. "What perfection! What precision! Keen incisions, I deliver! Unscathed organs, I deliver! Repossessions, I deliver! I'm the Repo Legal Assassin!" The man in the mirror was no longer the gentle father, but a shell, driven by one desire: desire for blood.

XxXxX

"Lame sitcom… newsreel…" Charlotte clicked the remote out of boredom. Gustave played out one of his new compositions. "Lemme see that." He nodded, passing her the scribbled sheet music. "Hmmm… whatcha gonna call it?"

"I don't know yet."

"If it were me, I'd call it—"

"Beautiful," Gustave interrupted, snatching it back.

"Oh, yes. Your favorite adjective." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Shut up!" He stuck out his tongue before turning away. Charlotte refocused on the TV, where a GeneCo commercial was playing. Blind Meg stood on the stage, dressed in a semi-translucent skirt and tight midriff-baring top almost the same color as her skin, a wave of pure sound coming out of her mouth as her blue eyes sparkled. Literally. Everyone was jealous of the technology that gave Meg the prettiest eyes on Sanitarium Island, at least according to Vanity and Vein at 9. A voiceover of Meg started playing over her singing.

"Hi. I'm Blind Meg. Your treasured memories don't have to fade with time. Announcing GeneCo's Cornea Plus, where everything is digitally recorded, so you can relive your favorite memories again and again."

"Incoming message from Erik Destler… Incoming message from Erik Destler…" Charlotte's wrist-phone beeped. The children exchanged glances. Erik Destler?

"Answer it!" Gustave urged, tossing her the phone. Charlotte fumbled for the TALK switch, and the hologram of a middle-aged, but still handsome man wearing a white mask on half his face flickered to life.

"Charlotte," a velvet-smooth tenor voice spoke. "You and your brother don't know me, but your mother was once very dear to me. I can help you find your cure. Meet me at your mother's tomb." The hologram flickered out, and the siblings exchanged glances.

"Well, come on." Charlotte bounced up and started towards her closet.

"What?"

"Um, did you not hear the 'I can help you find your cure' part of that? Gustave, are you really going to pass up this opportunity?"

"Dad said not to go outside."

"Are you really going to say no to a chance to be saved? I'm going, whether you come with me or not."

"Char, I really don't think it's a good idea."

"Suit yourself... Chicken." She smirked at the soft rustling of papers as he took the bait. Oh-so-predictably-manipulable Gustave.

XxXxX

ERIK'S STORY:

18 YEARS AGO:

Before the fire of the Genetic Opera, Erik Destler had thought had the perfect life and the perfect lover: his vocal student, Christine Daaé. When the Opera House went up in flames, one of the falling beams struck Erik across the face, disfiguring him in such a way that not even the best surGENs could fix the damage. To make matters worse, Christine had met Raoul... and broken Erik's heart.

11 YEARS AGO:

Hearts may ache. Certainly, his had never stopped aching for seven years. He was not entirely sure what had drawn him to the little Victorian house on a night too dark to see anything. What had caused him to touch Christine the way he had before the events that tore them apart. What had led her to accept him, rather than turn him away, for one night. But when that night was over, so was anything between them. She had turned on him, and broken him once again. So, when Christine and Charlotte got sick, Erik saw an opportunity to get even. Almost killing his own son in the process. Of course, he didn't know, when he'd ordered Raoul's cure sabotaged, that Christine had been carrying his son. No one except Christine had known. And now, with her blood on his hands, Erik could only punish one.

XxXxX

Erik glanced out at the cemetery, turning off the video feed from the warehouse where Giovanni had just raised the Gentern Mortality rate, Petrie had broken his record of pantie-snatching, and Carlotta... Amber... how he hated that idiotic name change... Amber had continued to be a little bitch to both her brothers. "Ashes... dust," he muttered ruefully. "My children were a bust! They shall inherit nothing! No... no! My legacy is too great to throw away on ingrates! Raoul de Chagny had potential, til he stole my Christine away! In denial, Raoul blamed himself for Christine's sudden death, and never once thought to suspect the man who wrote his checks! I guess... I'll take it to my death!" For a moment, her pained face, her thick chocolate hair, her deep, soulful eyes all flashed through his mind, only to be replaced by the wide-eyed children he had seen on the graveyard cameras. Little Charlotte, he remembered clearly. She'd grown to look exceptionally pretty, a dark beauty, just like her mother. And then, the boy... the boy had his mother's face, but the blonde hair was a mystery to him. The limo pulled to a stop in front of the crypt, and he stepped out. He could see Christine's portrait through the iron grate.

"Christine, it's Erik," he whispered, almost reverently. "You never should have left me. I would have given you the world..." His grip tightened on the sword hidden in his skull-topped cane. "It's been difficult to see you, after what you've put me through, you forced my hand and made me do..." Two soft gasps echoed in the tomb. The children had come. "Well... it looks like I'll be joining you. It seems the man who cured the globe cannot stop his own extinction, but I can go out with a bang." He nodded at his two lackeys, stepping back into the limo as they opened the crypt.

"Wait, no!" the little boy screamed. "We can't be outside! We can't be outside!"

"Let me go!" Charlotte yelled.

"I can go out with a bang..." Erik repeated smugly. The children continued wriggling as Darius and Reza set them down in the seats opposite Erik. "Charlotte, thank you for coming. I'm afraid I don't know your brother's name, though."

"It's Gustave," the boy gasped, rubbing his arm. "Char.. you've got..."

"Oh, that's right," Charlotte murmured, reaching into her bag and pulling out two vials. She unscrewed the caps and handed her brother two white pills before swallowing two from the other vial.

"Responsible," Erik remarked. "I like that. It's nice to see young talent blooming. My kids have been, well... disappointing." The understatement of the century. "I'm Erik Destler."

"We know..." Gustave mumbled, swallowing the glass of water Darius had handed him. "Please, Mr. Destler, let us go."

"I'm afraid that's not possible for the time being. I'm sorry to be so difficult, but I had no choice. You're a tough pair to find, climbing through holes—" The children exchanged a worried glance. "Charlotte, tell me, why is it you hide your pretty face?"

Charlotte's cheeks flushed a very vivid pink. "We're not supposed to go outside, sir. We have a blood disease from our mother." Erik raised an eyebrow. Apart from slightly pale complexions, neither of them exhibited the symptoms he was used to seeing in blood disease victims. And as for inheriting it from their mother... Christine had never had a blood disease. He smiled slowly. How very interesting.

"But there is hope, an antidote, and you could be the first to sample it. The GeneCo fix to all blood diseases. And I could use a team like you. The poster children of progress!" Both of them stared at him in disbelief. " I'm offering the cure you've sought, children. Your chance to see the world."

"Told you so," Charlotte whispered to Gustave.

"A function awaits as we speak. Charlotte, would you be my date?"

"Me?" Charlotte repeated.

"We really—"

"Blind Meg will be there," Erik interrupted. Both sets of eyes lit up eagerly as they repeated the name. "You three should meet."

"No... we must leave," Gustave insisted. "Papa will worry."

Erik leaned in conspiratorially. "Who says that Dad needs to know everything?"

"You could get us home?"

"Of course. You trust me, don't you, my dear?" Charlotte blushed again, and nodded. Gustave still looked uncertain, his eyes traveling to the chain around Charlotte's neck, the black-and-white photograph of Christine's father. The siblings gave each other a look, then spoke with one voice.

"We trust you."

XxXxX

Raoul raised the mask that concealed his face. The mask was his friend. Nobody knew who he was when he wore it. On his operating table, Giles Andre was squirming against his bonds. "It's a thankless job, but somebody's got to do it! Peelin' of the the tissue inch by inch, skinnin' off the muscles, too! Harvestin' the kidneys for the fall! Savin' up the livers in the fridge! No one ever thanks me when I'm done, how self-absorbed people can be! With a slice or a snip, eenie-meenie-miney-moe!"

Andre let out a strangled gurgle as Raoul reached in, pulling out his intestines. "With a cut, and a stitch, returning organs brand-new! It's a thankless job, but somebody's got to do it! Like a mop, and a broom, no one likes a thankless job!" The needle pulled out of his flesh, and Raoul's mind cleared. He had killed again.

XxXxX

Meg rolled her eyes, glancing up at the video version of herself. She wondered if her chest looked that big in real life, too. She could hear Petrie getting his face changed and genterns gasping.

"What's this, rat piss?" She turned to see Giovanni stabbing one of his assistants.

"Giovanni, stop it!" she screamed. Giovanni looked up at her in disbelief. Meg gingerly plucked the knife out of his hands and turned around.

"Who's gonna sing then, after you leave?"

"Amber, please, it's not my place," Meg sighed, not even bothering to turn around. She wouldn't give the spoiled brat the satisfaction.

"Someone must sing, why can't it be me?"

"Sister, please—"

"Just shut your face!" Giovanni yelled.

"Listen, you bitch—" Ugh! All three of them were petty and self-centered. The world was going to be in even more trouble when Erik passed away, no matter which of them he chose.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Everyone turned to see Erik, flanked by his usual guards, and two slight children. Oh, god, not more publicity stunts.

"But they—"

"Children, OFF!" Erik hissed, his eyes burning with a cold, intense fire. All three of them immediately ran off. Meg wished she could.

"Perfect timing, as always," she said, turning back to the fallen assistant. "Someone, get him a surGEN!"

"Playing the heroine again, hmm?" Erik asked dryly.

"Preserving life that wasn't Giovanni's to take," she countered.

"Never mind that. There's someone I'd like you to meet. The children of an old friend. A ghost from your past." He waved the two slender children forward. "Charlotte and Gustave." It wasn't possible… they'd died. Raoul had said both the children died with Christine. "Well, this stirs memories, doesn't it?" Erik turned to Charlotte, smiling warmly, the same kind of smile he used to make when Christine was alive. "Meg was nineteen when the accident happened, but I knew what potential she had, so I decided to help her see again, and watch her talent bloom. I could help you the same way, Charlotte. Both of you."

"Would the Voice of GeneCo please take the stage? Blind Meg, to the stage."

BLIND MEG'S STORY:

18 YEARS AGO:

Two best friends, Meg and Christine. Meg was the prima ballerina, Christine the new star and girlfriend of Erik. When the fire struck, Meg was blinded, her eyes lost, seemingly forever. But Erik had Meg's cure, and Meg had the memories of Christine's voice. The deal was made, and Meg became the new diva. It looked like she had the perfect life… until she realized her contract was signed in blood. Now, and for all time, Meg Giry and the voice of Christine Daaé must serve only one.

* * *

><p>AN: So, yes, I WILL get to Zydrate Anatomy next chapter. And it felt uber-weird writing that Charlotte-Erik exchange, Grilo-shipper that I am. There will be more 'Grilo' next chapter.  
>Note: If you didn't fully understand, Meg is lip-synching to Christine's voice. Raoul goes schizophrenic because of a drug Erik gives him, since Raoul is not naturally that kick-ass. And Erik is still a pedo. No way around it.<p> 


	3. I Can't Feel Nothing At All

"Please, don't go—"

"I must go..."

"Meg, don't say no—"

"I must say no!"

"Technically, you belong to me and GeneCo," Erik hissed in her ear. Meg shuddered involuntarily, and Erik laughed dryly. "Of course I joke."

"Of course you joke..." she repeated mechanically.

"You're free to go."

"I've got tonight..." she whispered, her knuckles turning white around the silver scissors.

XxXxX

"Hey, let go!" Charlotte brushed off the two Persian guards as they pushed her and Gustave into a tent.

"Pardon me, miss." The guard on the right pulled out a syringe and pressed it into her arm.

"Ow!" Gustave whimpered as the other guard pulled his needle out of his arm. Crimson liquid swirled in the container. Charlotte felt herself go a little woozy. Blood... fresh blood. The two guards stepped out of the tent. "Char?"

"How are we going to find our way home?" Charlotte muttered, already looking for an unblocked exit.

XxXxX

Raoul ran the hose over his uniform again, gritting his teeth in disgust. His wrist phone flashed Erik's hologram. "Collect on the Leferve account at once. His payment is past due. Repossess GeneCo's property."

XxXxX

Gerard whistled a few notes of 'Think of Me,' one of Blind Meg's latest hits. His thoughts traveled to the the slender brunette he'd seen in the graveyard. She'd been really pretty. Hot was a more accurate word, actually. Those big brown eyes looking at him...wow. Just wow. "Hey!" Shit. He knew that voice. "What's the matter, GraveRobber? Can't get it up if the girl's breathing?"

"Oh, and good evening to you, too, Amber," he replied snidely.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Amber plastered herself against the wall. Damn, her daddy's money was giving the red-headed bitch some serious T&A. Too bad no amount of surgery was ever going to fix her attitude. "Z me! Gimme a hit, now hurry! I'm late! I'm late, so hurry. Don't keep my surgeons waiting—"

"Bitch, pay me," he interrupted.

"Later!"

"Okay, I'll Z ya later," he retorted, trying to duck out of her way, but her two lugs were blocking his way. Fuck it all.

"Where you goin'?" Amber crooned, running her fingers up his ass and trying to reach into his coat. "Stay here. There's ways for me to pay, dear,other than dough."

"Hey, fuck off!" he hissed, pushing her away.

"That was the idea," Amber smirked. " I want a hit of Z, and we're not talking for free. A game of give and take... Baby I'll give til I break... But I ain't nobody's fool. This bitch knows the rules! I'll let you fuck my soul for a hit of that glow-"

"Hmmm...let me think. No."

"Aw, come on, baby."

"I said FUCK OFF!" he yelled. A loud crash echoed through the street. A Repo Man. "I'm outta here. Don't wait up!"

"Get back here!" Amber shrieked.

"Not gonna happen!"

XxXxX

"I'm sorry! I'll pay later! Please, don't!"

"Shh, shh!" Raoul placed his hand on the man's jugular, knocking him out.

"Medicine reminder. Medicine reminder." He switched to speakerphone, so he could keep working while checking in on the kids.

"Children?"

"Yes, Dad?" Charlotte responded immediately. That was good.

"Did you take your medicine?"

"Yes..." Why did she seem so distracted?

"For GeneCo!" someone shouted in the background. Raoul tensed instinctively.

"What's that?"

"What's what?" Charlotte asked, her voice rising slightly, as if she were panicking. The man in the background said something else, something unintelligible.

"That."

"Oh, that," Gustave broke in, "our window, it's cracked."

"Then why aren't you wearing your masks? Should I head back?"

"No!" Charlotte blurted. "We're fine!"

"I can be there in no time—"

"That won't be needed!"

"But, Charlotte—"

"Your patients need you!" Leferve started groaning. "Dad, who's that?" Damn.

XxXxX

"That? One pf my patients, he's...er... sick." There was a loud snapping sound and the children exchanged worried glances.

"Will he live?" Gustave asked.

"It's looking grim."

"You should stay there for a while!" Charlotte urged.

"I will rush home when I'm done—"

"Take your time, nothing's wrong!"

"I love you, children."

"We love you, father!" they chorused, ending the call. Charlotte scrambled for the vials. Blue pills for her, white for Gustave...

"What now?" Gustave asked between gulps of medicine.

"Psssst! Princess!" Charlotte whirled to see the alabaster face from the graveyard grinning at her through a rip in the tent. "Smokin' dress. Red looks good on you." Charlotte blushed bright crimson.

"You're real?" Gustave whispered in shock.

"Duh, kid."

"Shh! Don't bother us! You can't get caught!"

"Sorry..." the Graverobber muttered guiltily.

"We must get home."

"Follow me," he said, extending the tear to fit all of them. "But we're gonna make a detour."

"A detour? Where?"

"There you are!" Someone shrieked from behind.

"That's trouble! Keep moving!"

"What?"

"Come on!" The Graverobber paused to pick up Gustave by the waist and flung the little boy over his shoulders. "Can you keep up, princess?" Charlotte only nodded, unsure of whether or not she liked it when he called her 'princess.'

"Who's after us?"

"Amber Sweet... man, that is the wrong name for her..."

"Why is she so mad?"

"All the Destler kids are pretty pissed off right now. Their dad's getting on in years, and none of them are right to take the job. I mean, think about Giovanni, the psycho with a knife. Do one thing wrong, and you're dead meat. And Petrie? The guy with a girl's face? A real lady-killer. Literally. He sees a pretty girl, he'll swoop in, fuck her, slit her throat, and then rip! Her face comes off and goes over his. I'd stay away from him if I were you, princess. He really likes the pretty girls."

"You think I'm pretty?"

"Um... and if I do?" the Graverobber asked. "I know what makes a girl hot." That got her mad. Did he just spend all his time flirting with girls he thought were hot? "Anyway, everyone knows they're not leader material, and Amber's even worse. You'll see soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Welcome to Z Addicts Anonymous!" He let go of her hand and set Gustave down.

"How old are you?" Charlotte turned to see a fat girl in ratty clothes made mostly of fishnets and leather. Her voice was raspy, like she'd been rubbing sandpaper on her vocal cords.

"I'm seventeen. And my brother's ten."

"I had my first surgery when I was thirteen," the girl said, tossing her ratty hair smugly. She leaned in, and Charlotte gagged on the scent of her cheap perfume. "Thanks to Z, I couldn't feel or remember a thing. A month later, I was turning tricks."

"I wanna go home," Gustave whimpered, clinging to her skirt.

"Graverobber—"  
>"Shh!" The girl hissed, slinking up to the Graverobber. Charlotte glared as the girl ran her hands along the ratty edge of Graverobber's collar.<p>

"I can't feel nothin' at all!" A girl on the fire escape wailed, and the others took up the mantra. A power line sparked overhead, and the Graverobber wrapped an arm around Charlotte's waist, crooning in her ear.

"Drug market, sub market, sometimes I wonder why I ever got in …. Blood market, love market, sometimes I wonder why they need me at all!" He held up the glowing blue solution he'd been extracting in the graveyard. "Zydrate comes in a little glass vial."

"A little glass vial?" she repeated slowly.

"A little glass vial!" The group nodded, speaking in perfect synchrony. Had they planned that?

"And the little glass vial goes into the gun like battery." Graverobber pulled away from her, and leaned down to a girl with a blue pixie cut who was clinging to his leg. "And the Zydrate gun goes somewhere against your anatomy." He pressed the gleaming silver needle against the hollow of the girl's throat. Zip! A set of blue sparks danced along her skin. "And when the gun goes off, it sparks and you're ready for surgery."

"Surgery?" Gustave whimpered, wrapping his arms even tighter around Charlotte. She pressed his head into her stomach, trying to reassure him silently.

"Graverobber... Graverobber... Sometimes I wonder why I even bother..." Graverobber gave Charlotte a look that clearly said 'I told you so.' Then he pinned Amber against the wall, his fingers dancing along the scar on her chest. "Graverobber... Graverobber... Sometimes I wonder why I need you at all!"

"And Amber Sweet is addicted to the knife!"

"Addicted to the knife?"

"Hooked on surgery," Charlotte whispered to her brother.

"And addicted to the knife, she needs a little help with the agony."

"Agony!"

"And a little help comes in a little glass vial in a gun pressed against her anatomy, and when the gun goes off, Miss Sweet is ready for surgery, surgery!"

"Graverobber... Graverobber... Sometimes I wonder why I need you at all..." Graverobber knelt in front of Amber's gyrating hips and pressed the gun against her thigh. _Zap_!

"It's clean, it's clear, it's pure, it's rare...It takes you there …"

"It what?"

"It takes you there!" Graverobber whispered into Charlotte's ear. Charlotte shivered as his lips brushed against her ears. His lips were chapped, but gentle. "A little jump before the cut."

"Why agonize? Anesthetize!" Charlotte pulled her brother away from the fat girl, who was getting in his face and gripping him far too tightly to be 'friendly.'

"I can't feel nothin' at all..."

"Cos surgery is what she needs, to change inside," Graverobber explained.

"To feel alive!" Amber shrieked. The power line exploded, and her head lolled backward.

"Wanna see how to wake her up?" Graverobber asked, smirking widely. Gustave nodded timidly. Graverobber whistled a few bars.

"Hey, that's a Blind Meg song!" Charlotte realized.

"Who did that?" Amber shrieked furiously. Graverobber pointed at Gustave. Charlotte pulled her little brother behind her, shielding him from the drug-riddled heiress. Amber stood haltingly, lunging towards her. "So you think you got heart? So you think you got balls? So you think Meg can sing?" she slurred.

"I don't think nothin' at all...' Charlotte snapped, refusing to back down.

"So you think Meg has pipes? Well it's my turn to shine when the Repo man strikes!"

"What are you talkin' about?" Gustave asked, sticking out his head from behind Charlotte. Amber slammed a news article into their hands, a photo of Meg staring up at them.

"Meg's contract's got some mighty fine print." Graverobber tapped the headline, which read '_Will Meg's Swan Song Be A Date With A Repo Man?'_

"Some mighty fine print?" Charlotte asked. She was beginning to feel like a parrot, or a nursery rhyme.

"Some mighty fine—"

"Shut up, already!" Graverobber cut the junkies off. "Look, that mighty fine print puts Meg in a mighty fine predicament. If Meg up and splits, her eyes are forfeit, and if GeneCo and Erik so will it, then a repo man will come and she'll pay for that surgery. Surgery... Surgery... Surgery..." Suddenly, he looked around and grabbed Charlotte's hand. "Come on! GenCops!"

"Wait up!" Gustave called from behind.

"All aboard the Sanitarium express!" Graverobber called, tossing Gustave into a passing garbage truck. "Get ready, princess."

"Wha—" Charlotte didn't have time to finish her question as the Graverobber picked her up by the waist and grabbed one of the handrails. Then, he did something she had DEFINITELY not been expecting. He bent down and and kissed her full on the mouth.

Understatement of the century: Charlotte had never kissed a boy before, or vice versa. She'd never even seen a member of the opposite gender face to face other than her family before tonight. And now... being kissed like this... Her world exploded. It was incredible. He pulled away from her, grinning. "You kiss like an angel."

"Do you say that to Amber, too?" Charlotte blurted angrily.

"What? Oh... no... I don't. Because she doesn't. And before you ask, she's not my girlfriend, just my client."

"Client..." she repeated in disgust. "So, what, you're hoping I'll become a client, too, just so I can kiss you again."

"No! No, I—" He hung his head. "Look, it's complicated. But if that's all that's pissing you off, I promise, Amber and I are not together."

"Sure you're not! And I suppose—"

"Char. This is Mom's crypt." Gustave tugged at her sleeve, and hopped off in front of the mausoleum.

"Graverobber," Charlotte nodded curtly. "Thank you. Good night."

"Gerard," he blurted. Both of the children turned back to him. "My... my real name's Gerard Carriere. Good night—" his features deepened into his eerie vampire smile "—Princess."

"Fuck you," she muttered, pulling open the door to the tomb. But as she entered, she could have sworn she was hearing him laugh, a deep rumbling that left an aching in her chest.

"Kiss a random boy? Check," Gustave quipped.

"Shut up! I'd almost rather have had Erik Destler kiss me than that... that..."

"Erik Destler? Eurgh, Char, he's old enough to be your father!"

"So? He's pretty good-looking, and he doesn't smell like a dumpster!"

"You liked when Gerard kissed you! I know you did!" Gustave started skipping along the tunnel. "Charlotte and Gerard, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes—"

"Shut up!" Charlotte hissed, clapping a hand over his mouth and pulling open the door into the foyer. "We can't let Dad hear us! Go! Go! Upstairs!"

"Charlotte's in denial! Charlotte's in lo-ove!" Gustave danced up the stairs, Charlotte on his heels. "Charlotte's got a boyfriend!"

"SHHHHH!" She shoved him in bed. "I can hear Dad coming! Just go!"


	4. Remember Who You Are

Raoul sighed as he stepped out of the secret passage, gazing up at his wife's portrait longingly. "Lotte...I'm filthy..." he whispered sadly. "I'm so sorry..."

"Raoul de Chagny, come to my office at once," Erik's voice bleated from his wrist. Raoul ignored it, climbing the stairs to the children's room. Erik could wait another five minutes. He unlocked the door and smiled softly at Charlotte's soft brown curls gleaming subtly in the fluorescent light.  
>"Kids, you awake?" Neither of them replied, save a tiny snore from Gustave. He smiled sadly and closed the door. Sleeping like angels, the both of them...<br>XxXxX  
>'Don't break my heart... Don't walk away... Don't leave me lonely...' Erik stopped writing for a moment, smiling dryly. He wondered if Charlotte remembered what she'd said to him ten years ago... The elevator doors opened, and Raoul walked in, wearing his usual moping expression.<br>Giovanni caught the candlelight on the blade of his knife and flashed it in Raoul's face, grinning evilly. "Well, who ordered pizza? I could sure go for a slice!"  
>"Giovanni," Erik hissed in a warning tone.<br>"Ooh, never too pressed for l'dramatico entrance!" Petrie laughed. Erik silenced his middle child with a glare.  
>"You wanted to see me?" Raoul asked quietly.<br>Erik didn't know what annoyed him about his former rival more, his submissive attitude, or the fact that, despite all evidence to the contrary, Christine had deemed this IDIOT the better man. He merely smiled the slow, eerie smile that had been dubbed 'the vampire's grin' by the press. "Thank you for coming. I have your new assignment."

"Hot off the meat truck!" Giovanni said, still joking around.

Raoul's knuckles were turning white around the handle of the organ transport unit. He was getting scared. Good. "Is there a reason why you couldn't phone me this target?"

"This is a job of special importance. It is involving a GeneCo employee. An artist we all know." Erik switched from his composing software to the GeneCo files, bringing up Meg's page. Those damned eyes...

"That blonde has-been alto! " Amber shrieked, callously throwing Meg's secret out in the open.

"A traitor to GeneCo."  
>"Tonight is her last show!" Amber clapped her hands in petty delight.<br>"I can't afford a scandal here!"  
>"Please handle Meg's face with care!" Petrie crooned. Erik rolled his eyes at his son's disgusting hobby. If he had to burn Meg's corpse, he would, but he refused to look at Meg's sweet little face for an instance more than was absolutely necessary.<br>"And take her down!"  
>"But Meg's eyes are -"<br>"Are GeneCo's," Erik finished coldly. "I know this may seem hard."  
>"Meg was Christine's best friend…" Raoul whispered, his voice almost a whimper. The fool.<br>"You break my friggin' heart!" Giovanni scoffed.  
>"You can reunite them!" Petrie joked. Erik silenced him with a scowl. However fun tormenting Raoul might be, they had to remember they were still speaking of the woman Erik loved.<br>"I cannot do this job…" Raoul turned to leave. Erik smirked, and flipped the switch, sealing all the exits. "Erik! Stop! I can't!"  
>"Of course you can. Remember who you are... Remember what you did to Christine!" The mere mention of his beloved wife's name was enough to make Raoul lose all remaining color in his face. "Must I take you back there?"<br>"Please don't take me back there. "  
>"Why relive that moment?"<br>"I can't relive it…"  
>That dark, fateful night when you murdered your wife! It's too painful? Christine was past helping." Indeed, that had been one of his better mixtures. It was only a pity that he'd had to use it on Christine.<br>"Christine was past helping…" Raoul repeated miserably.  
>"Your kids' lives were slipping." Oh, that had been his best touch. Of course the children would be key pieces in orchestrating their dear father's ruin. And there was still one more part for them to play.<br>"Children…. Both slipping…"  
>"They needed their dad and I needed skilled hands, so I fixed things. We made an agreement." He changed the screen to show Raoul's contract.<br>"I will honor that agreement…"  
>"You'll do as you're told so the kids never know… about that dark and fateful night."<br>"Or my secret repo life…"  
>"Don't deny your repo life…" Erik whispered menacingly into Raoul's ear.<br>Raoul grimaced. "Dear Christine, I am so sorry... Can you forgive me for this…?" Erik snapped his fingers, and Reza and Darius threw Raoul to the floor of the training room.  
>"Not the Debt Doctor with the hungry scalpel! Here's my prognosis, will they live?"<br>"Doubtful," the two Persians said in emotionless unison.  
>XxXxX<br>"Alright, Erik, let's see if you've still got the same password," Meg murmured, looking over her shoulder as she hacked into the GeneCo security system.  
>Raoul was curled into the fetal position on the floor of the training room, whimpering like a baby, "I remember every dying whisper, every desperate murmur… I remember when I gaze upon her… She looks just like you…I remember, I remember!"<br>"Now!" Erik yelled.  
>The needle sank into Raoul's wrist, his eyes grew vacant, and his voice grew husky and guttural. "I remember working every victim with acute precision... I remember every time I hold you, my warm companion... I remember, I dismember! 'Cause the Claims Medic gives no anesthetic! 90 days delinquent gets you Repo Treatment! I'm the masked horror on your street corner! Make your momma mourn you! I'm a Night Surgeon!" The scalpel suddenly clattered to the ground. Raoul's fingers moved to his wrist and he let out a strangled gasp as he pulled out the serum. "I remember…" he panted.<br>"Raoul." Erik said the single word with such venom, such intense warning of danger. Raoul turned back to him.  
>"No. I cannot do this job. I will not. Find someone else."<br>"No one walks away from me! Raoul!"  
>"Go to hell," Raoul said quietly, vanishing through the door.<br>"He wants out, does he? Then I WILL TAKE HIM OUT!" Meg let out a gasp. It was true. If she was going die, she would die knowing she had helped her godchildren.  
>"You want the eye, Erik?" she whispered. "Take them. Daroga." Her 'bodyguard' looked up at her from the steering wheel as she closed her laptop. "To the Chagny house. And make it fast. I've got to visit a friend... or two."<p>

* * *

><p>Hahaha! Yes! Update! BTW, call me lazy, but Night Surgeon is a nightmare to try to type. Next time: CHASE THE MORNING! The song is Emmy Rossum's 'Don't Break My Heart.'<p> 


	5. At The Opera Tonight

"Do you think he's got it yet?"

"Gustave, we've been waiting for ten years for our cure, I think we can wait a bit long—" Charlotte gasped, staring at the window. "Is that Blind Meg?"

"Lemme see!" Gustave pushed her aside to stare. The singer was standing at the gate, dressed far more simply than she ever had onstage: brown pants and a loose white shirt.

"Charlotte? Are you there, Charlotte? Can I talk to you? Can you come down please?" her voice crackled softly through the speakers, not sounding anything like the operatic diva the two children had grown up hearing.

"Why?" Charlotte blurted.

"So we can speak," answered Meg, letting out a tiny sigh.

"Char, wait!" Gustave protested. Charlotte ignored him, pulling a pin out of her hair and picking open the lock, hitting the switch to open the gate. Meg was hurrying up the walkway, and Charlotte would have met her there, but Gustave caught the edge of his sister's nightgown.

"I saw you at the show. I thought I'd seen your ghosts. The resemblance is striking. You both look like your mom, I swear… I was told you died with her… All these years have come and gone… How do I put this? I'm your- Godmom..." The song was haunting, but gentle, like a familiar lullaby.

"State your business," Gustave ordered. Charlotte stared at him in shock. Had he not heard what Meg had just said?

Business?" Meg repeated.

"What do you want?"

"I want…" Meg paused, searching for the right words. "I want to finally meet you. Something real to cling to! Leave you with the hope that you will go do all you're meant to, all I failed to. In you is a world of promise… We have all been kept in bondage, but you could learn from all my failures…." she rubbed her hands as if bonds were chafing them.

"We're not supposed to talk to strangers," Gustave said coldly. Charlotte whacked him on the shoulder.

"Or let them through the gate, either?" Meg asked, smiling wryly.

"That either. A big risk."

"A big fence."

"A mistake."

"An old friend." Suddenly, Meg's eyes sparked and a blue hologram shimmered to life. Charlotte wanted to cry; it was as beautiful as the scenes on TV Christmas specials. Meg sat next to Raoul on the couch, helping him string a popcorn garland and flicking pieces into his tousled brown hair, both of them laughing. At their feet, a seven-year-old Charlotte was snuggled against a very pregnant Christine, who stroked her daughter's hair, singing softly and carefully, as if she were afraid of hurting herself.

"Chase the morning…. Yield for nothing… Chase the morning…. Yield for nothing…"

"Omigod, Mom?" Charlotte whispered, the babyish name escaping her lips as a whimper. How did she not remember something like this? Meg nodded, letting the image disappear. "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That…. That eye thing."

"These eyes can do more than see."

"We know…." Gustave interrupted, his voice having lost all hostility. Both Meg and Charlotte looked at him in shock. "I mean, we've seen you sing."

"Where?"

"From our window. We can see the world from there… Name the stars and constellations, count the cars and watch the seasons…"

"I wish we could have watched together."

"We can't have guests."

"Never?"

"Ever. If Dad found out that we'd been let out or that you'd been let in—"

"I should go, then?" Charlotte bit her lip, wanting to scream out 'No, stay, please,' but nodded instead. "Before I do, promise me you won't—"

"Better that you don't forget us, best if we resume our life inside our bedroom…"

"Don't forget two sheltered buds needs a little room to bloom outside their bedroom." Meg thrust out her arms, letting the image of their mother appear again, this time, dressed in a gorgeous gown and sparkling necklace.

"Chase the morning… Yield for nothing… Chase the morning… Yield for nothing…"

Meg closed her eyes, a single tear going down her cheek. Her voice by itself was thin and delicate, like a crystal on the verge of breaking. "Let your life be your dream… Integrity, honesty… It's too late for me…. Don't look back 'till you're free to chase the morning!"

"Yield for nothing… Chase the morning… Yield for nothing… Chase the morning… Yield for nothing… Yield for nothing…" Charlotte felt herself falling under the spell of what she now understood had been her mother's voice all along. Then she saw who was standing in the door, and gasped, pulling Gustave back upstairs as fast as she could. Raoul was home early.

XxXxX

Meg swallowed back the phlegm rising in her throat. With his arms crossed over his brown leather coat, and scowling, Raoul looked about ready to slit her throat, despite what she'd heard him say in the training room. "Hi, Raoul."

"Meg…. How did you get in here? Don't you have a show tonight?" He tried to get past her, but she moved too quickly.

"How are you, Raoul?"

"Busy." He ducked under her arm and took off his coat.

"You never were a man of many words, Raoul. You said the children died! I promised your late wife I'd be present in both their lives!"

"Meg, I don't have time for this. The children are both very ill, and it's not safe for them to see people."

"Dad!" Charlotte rushed down the stairs. "Let her stay in here, let her hide here!"

"No, she's leaving." Raoul locked his fingers around Meg's arm tightly.

"Please, hide her here!" Gustave followed, clinging to Meg's waist.

"From what?"

"She'll be dead!"

"Look, I told you they were sick!" Raoul snarled, trying to separate the children from Meg. His fists were like iron.

"Raoul… please, you are hurting me…"

"My children need their rest!"

"I'll be fine, children, don't you fret,…"

"Repossessions are dangerous!" Charlotte shrieked. "You're not safe!"

"CHILDREN, GO TO BED!"

"Dad, she's not safe!"

"Raoul! What has become of you? You've turned this house into a tomb! Christine wouldn't want this for you! SET THEM FREE!"

"MEG, DON'T LEAVE!" the children screamed, struggling against their father's grip.

"LEAVE OUR HOUSE!" Raoul yelled, slamming the door in her face.

"No! No!" Meg pounded on the door, sobbing "Oh, Christine, I'm so sorry… I've failed…." Let the Repo Man come. She didn't give a damn anymore if it was Raoul who ripped the cursed eyes from her sockets and slit her throat. Then she smiled grimly as an idea dawned in her head. Why give Erik the satisfaction of having everything go according his way?

XxXxX

"COME BACK!" Charlotte screamed, trying desperately to open the door.

"Charlotte, keep it down. It's your bedtime." She felt her father's fingers clamp down on her wrist.

"I'm fine, dad! But how could you? She's going to die, and you could have helped her!"

"Stop talking nonsense."

"It's not nonsense!" Gustave wriggled free and ran upstairs, returning moments later with the magazine Amber had given them. "A Repo Man is coming for Meg! He's gonna take her eyes!"

Their father looked at the photo of Meg coldly. "It's better to leave these kind of thing alone, children."

"She'll lose her eyes and her life if you don't do something to stop him!"

"WOULD YOU TWO PLEASE SHUT UP!"

"FINE!" Charlotte screamed back, storming into her room. "Fine, be useless!"

"Charlotte, wait up! I'm coming, too!" Gustave scrambled after his sister.

"You will do nothing of the sort." Both the children whirled on their father. "Please hear me out. I know you're upset, but you have to understand, your mother's death taught me to accept that nothing ever lasts in this world. If a foolish dream can destroy a grown man, what chance do two children who know nothing of the world have?"

"Seventeen! Mama drama's got to go, dad! Seventeen! Nothing's gonna bring her back!

Seventeen! Experiment with something living! Seventeen! 'Cos I'm sweeter than 16! Hey hey hey hey! Hey hey hey hey! Hey hey hey hey! Hey hey hey hey!" Gustave started knocking anything within reach off their shelves.

"Seventeen! We've always longed for true affection! Seventeen! But you compare us to a corpse! Seventeen! Stay with the dead, we're joining the living 'Cos I'm freer than sixteen!"

Gustave brought down his fingers on the piano and grinned at her. Charlotte smirked back, turning towards their father again. "Something's changing… I can feel it… I'm seventeen now! Why can't you see it? Seventeen and you can't stop me! Seventeen and you won't boss me! You cannot control me, father, Daddy's girl's a fucking monster!" She stuck up her middle finger triumphantly. She felt wonderful… exhilarated… free….

Then Raoul slapped her. Charlotte reeled backward, falling against the bed. Gustave rushed to her side, whimpering as if he was the one who'd been struck.

"You hit me," Charlotte whispered in shock. "You hit me."

"Char… I'm sorry…."

"Stay away!" Gustave's voice sounded shaky to Charlotte. Her vision was swimming, everything was going fuzzy…

XxXxX

Erik turned the white porcelain mask over in his hands. Everything was ready for tonight. Charlotte, he'd decided, ought to debut with her mother's piece. He managed to replace the mask just as Amber stormed in, her face concealed by a little pillbox hat and veil. "I've never been so surgically maimed!" she shrieked, grating on his ears.

"Amber, please, it's not that bad," he muttered, trying to keep control.

"I'll be the laughingstock of the stage!"

"Daughter, please, it's not so bad.

"This is your fault! I asked you to help me!

"Carlotta, please!" he shouted, using her real name. "I warned you about this! Happiness is not a warm scalpel!"

"I don't care! It's not fair!" He groaned inwardly. He was going to have to play the pampering father.

"Baby, baby, baby, don't do this."

"I will never sing again!"

"I gave you the life I wished I'd had."

"I look like a crime scene, dad."

"All you ever do is take, take, take. all I ever do is give. I said nothing when you came to me asking, 'can I be Asian?'"

"That surgery was only $90 grand!"

"I did not complain when you changed your name from Destler to Sweet!"

"I need a stage name!"

"You are a disgrace! Your genes are not worthy of mine!" He spun her to face him. An angry red crisscrossing of scars ran along Amber's face.

"Daddy…" she whimpered. He shuddered as a spasm began to wreak his body.

"Get...out...of...my...sight…." he gasped between coughs. "One of...the surGENs…can fix you… Now…." Amber scuttled away, her head hung in shame. Erik scowled. Blood meant nothing. None of his children were a credit to him. "Just what I get for having test tube children…" The screen flashed with a report from the labs.

NO TRACES OF ANY BLOOD DISEASES IN EITHER SAMPLE. BOTH ARE LACED WITH A DRUG, THE GIRL'S ALSO CONTAINS AMNESIAC. THE BOY…. Erik's jaw dropped. THE BOY IS YOUR SON. WE AWAIT YOUR INSTRUCTIONS.

TELL NO ONE, he entered rapidly. His mind was reeling. His son… Gustave…. To think, that one night beneath a moonless sky had resulted in his only worthy heir. Oh, the irony…

He pushed down the framed portrait of Christine, and the little drawer concealing his will slid open. "You will do well in replacing your mother, I believe, my dear little caged songbird. What do we say I give you and my newly discovered progeny the funds to fly?" he smiled, writing Charlotte de Chagny and Gustave Destler in the empty spaces.

XxXxX

Raoul sighed, stroking back Charlotte's hair. He knew what had happened. The serum… his body was beginning to replicate its effects. Not surprising, seeing as he's been taking it for so long…. The kids' two phones beeped a message together, Erik's hologram spinning smugly. "Children, I've found it. Everything will be made clear tonight. See you at the Opera."

"So Erik thinks that he can take them…"

"Dad?" Charlotte blinked awake, struggling to sit up.

"Nothing, Charlotte, nothing. Go to bed."

"Why didn't you tell us we had a godmother?" Gustave demanded.

"What do you mean?" Raoul asked innocently, slipping one of Charlotte's pills into Gustave's glass before passing both of them off to the children. He walked out, trying to stay calm, and locked the door behind him. Erik was never going to take away the only joy he had left. Then he saw at the end of the hall. "No…" Christine's body was gone from behind the mirror. "No!"

"Attention, all GeneCo personnel! Apprehend the RepoMan, Raoul de Chagny, and bring him to me! I want Raoul de Chagny taken out!" Raoul tore through his lab, grabbing a scalpel just fast enough to catch a GeneCop in the stomach.

"Charlotte! Gustave!" he yelled, racing up the stairs. "Children!" He flung open the door. Gone. They were gone. "NO!" He felt a sour, bitter taste rising in his throat.

"Tonight we are betrayed… Keep children safe…. Make Erik pay! On Christine's grave…. At the opera tonight!"

XxXxX

Charlotte looked back at the house, then pulled out the black box under her seat. Erik's message was ringing in her head. "This dress once belonged to your mother. I believe you will do it justice, and I would be honored if you would choose to wear it." Gustave had already changed into a cute little gray suit. She bit her lip, chanting a mantra as Gustave echoed her.

"We must be brave. Come, come what may. Can we be saved? is there a way… At the opera tonight?"

XxXxX

"I've made my peace," Meg whispered, "I hold no grudge…. We're gonna sing...our final songs at the opera tonight!" Christine's voice took over, as Meg turned back towards her fate.

XxXxX

"No chance for peace… I'll end this grudge. I'll stain the streets! They'll run with blood at the opera tonight!" The Repo man rasped, taking complete control of Raoul's mind.

XxXxX

"One more hit for the show! Make it fast!" Gerard rolled his eyes as Amber stared down at him into the Dumpster.

"Take it slow," he grumbled.

"One more hit of the glow!" she whined, chucking a 20-buck piece at him.

"Go get cut…" He offered her the LGV.

"For tonight's show-!"

XxXxX

"Tonight, I set the stage."

"Tonight, we set the stage!"

"My greatest play."

"My greatest face!"

"All plans are laid."

"My greatest rage!"

"Petrie gets laid!"

"All debts are paid...!"

"At the opera tonight!"

"At the opera tonight!"

XxXxX

"Repo man, come take my eyes…."

XxXxX

"At the opera tonight!" Amber stormed into the tent.

XxXxX

"Repo man, these eyes!" Christine's voice pierced the night.

XxXxX

"At the opera tonight!" Gerard smirked, examining the Evening Slice smugly. "Bloodbath, it's gonna be a bloodbath, 'cuz no one crosses GeneCo. No, not even Repo. Will Erik clean house? Damn, we're gonna find out at the Opera. Stay tuned! The winner of this blood feud will take GeneCo."


	6. More Excitement Coming

A/N: Oh, for the love of Darren Lynn Bousman, how long has it been since I last….*checks it* Two months. Ah, that's not as bad as I'd worried.

XxXxX

Charlotte looked around the room. It looked like the photographs of her mother's old dressing room, but thrown into disarray and shadows, cluttered with junk. "This is creepy," Gustave whimpered.

"Master Gustave. You're to come with me," the driver who had brought them to the secluded room of the GeneCo said. The two siblings started towards the door. "Just Master Gustave. You're to stay here until Mr. Destler gives the order, Miss Charlotte."

"You mean… we'll be separated? We've never been apart before!"

"Mr. Destler's orders." The driver pulled aside the mirror at the edge of the room and pushed Gustave through. The mirror slid shut behind her brother, and the driver left, locking the door. Charlotte was completely alone for the first time in her life. Suddenly, the mirror shimmered, and Erik Destler's image appeared in the mirror.

"Charlotte! The past can be dreadful. There are those who kept you in the dark to protect you! You're old enough, I think, though they disagree, to find out the truth, and choose who will be! To get your cure, you'll need to light up that dark place! This GraveRobber here can help you 'dig' the way. But you'll have to earn it! Nobody deserves shit! I gave my kids the world, they repaid me with spit! You'll need to bring illumination to the situation if you want that cure!" The image vanished and the mirror slid open again. Picking up the puffy white skirts, she started down the tunnels.

XxXxX

Gerard was definitely in danger of his head bursting. He'd been hanging upside down for way too long. A tiny figure appeared, holding a candelabrum in trembling hands. "Who-who's there? Stay back…" Gerard croaked.

"Um, do you have our cure?" He knew that voice….

"Kid? Is that you?"

"I'm here to earn our cure," the kid squeaked. Gerard felt his blood boil, which could not be a healthy thing, but he was so damn mad!

"Your cure? Is that what this is about?" Then he smiled. This could actually help him. "Sorry, that fucking Amber cleaned me out, but maybe later… I'll hook you up later. Just help me down!"

"The drug...?" The kid set down the candles, looking around the room.

"Yeah, the drug," grunted Gerard, trying to make another grab for his ankles.

"Yeah?"

"Your cure, it's-"

"The drug?"

"Help me down!" he urged, pointing to his bag. The kid grabbed it and passed it over.

"Help me…"

"I'll score some…" Gerard felt the smooth shaft of his extractor. Perfect. But empty, damn it.

"...shed some…"

"Kid, I'm out!"

"Some…"

"I told you!"

"… Light on…"

"That's the situ—"

"...The situation."

"The situation." The two of them looked at each other, and Gerard felt himself longing for the girl. Charlotte. She would have at least been intelligent about it. And now he had to be hallucinating, because there was no way in hell she would just appear out of nowhere in a wedding dress. Her eyes flickered over the white-draped body nearby.

"How 'bout her? She's right beside you...No, I mean her Zydrate. No, it's like a night-light."

"Yeah...? She's right beside me, so? I'm out of Zydrate. Oh, it's like a night-light…" He stopped interrupting as he understood her meaning, and smiled. "You're beautiful." Charlotte's blush vanished the minute he tried to pass the extractor to the kid. "It's easy."

"You don't mean...?"

"Yeah."

"For him to-?"

"So, easy-"

The kid shook his head. "I don't think…"

"Don't think!"

"...that I could—"

"Just smack it!"

Charlotte considered for a moment. "I guess that she…"

"She won't."

"...won't feel it-"

"You've got to smack it…"

"Into her skull!"

"Inside her skull..." The kid reached for the body, preparing to stick in the extractor when the lights blinked on and Charlotte smacked his hand away.

"Gustave, don't!" Oh, so the kid's name was Gustave.

"Char, it's our cure!"

"Look at her face!" Charlotte urged, pointing at the woman. Any color Gustave had, drained out of his face. "It's...it's her."

"Um, hi? Remember me? The guy whose head could explode at any second?" Gerard asked. Gustave rolled his eyes, headed over to the door and flicking a switch. There was a loud thud, but thankfully no snap as Gerard plummeted to the floor. "Ow! You could've broken my neck!"

"Consider it payback for the lip rape." Charlotte retorted angrily.

"You're wounding my ego, princess."

"Shut up."

"Ah, well, if you two won't, I will." Gerard said, reclaiming his extractor and jamming it into the woman's skull. The Zydrate came out a dull green, rather than glowing blue. "Dammit! Tainted!"

"Tainted?"

"Zydrate only works if the body system doesn't have any outside toxins or residues. There's some kind of poison in your mother's system, it's fucking up the Zydrate." He gathered up his stuff and blew Charlotte a kiss. "Good luck, princess. You'll need it." Without another word, he slipped out the door he'd been dragged through.

XxXxX

Charlotte was fuming. "The nerve! The nerve of that...that… that creep!" Gustave merely sat by their mother's corpse, biting his lip.

"Who would poison her?"

"I don't—" The lights flickered off and Erik's image reappeared on a screen.

"Children, you've made it. You're close enough to taste it. Your cure is waiting, there is but one thing pending." A Repo Man's face flashed onto the screen. "Help us catch him, This former GeneCo trainee, who's lost his mind completely, and managed to escape me! You saw him in the graveyard. It seems this fiend has set his teeth on you, so be on guard, he's coming. We'll use you as bait to lure the snake out of his hole, and I am sorry, children, for that, but this is your defining moment. Will you let yourselves be trapped, or will you use the trap to trap him? Bring me Repo Man and you will get your cure." The video fizzled out and the children were alone.

"Take off your dress," Gustave said firmly.

"WHAT?"

"Char, I've got a plan. Trust me."

XxXxX

"AND NOW, THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! GENECO PROUDLY PRESENTS BLIND MEG!"

The crowd erupted Meg took a deep breath. "Are you ready, Christine? One last time." The stagehand began to lower her down, but Meg didn't 'sing.' She merely let her eyes project. Time to give credit where it was due. Everyone gasped as Christine "Tanto tempo fa, un uccello fatale di nome Chromaggia. Incrociò in volo la freccia di un arciere, lungo le coste di lava! Per anni, pensando di essere, inseguita, scappò dalla freccia…. Chromaggia, Chromaggia, perché non affronti il pericolo? La freccia era legata all'ala, e lei volava per liberarsene, tirando la freccia, altri son ferriti per mia colpa, mia colpa…" Everyone was completely silent as the hologram of the late star of the GeneCo Opera sang once again. Meg added a few of her signature dance steps as the music reached its climax, choosing to reject the harness. Christine shimmered to life.

"Giú! Verso la bocca del diavolo! La sua freccia, i miei occhi. Chromaggia, come take these eyes... !" Meg closed them for a moment and then sang with her own voice. "I would rather be blind!" She raised what she'd hidden: two long silver talons on her index fingers. Without hesitating, she plunged them into her sockets.

XxXxX

Erik felt his blood boil. HOW DARE SHE? How dare that little blonde whelp defy him like this? Without a second thought, he cut the chain holding up the grand crystal chandelier, and watched calmly as it plummeted down and crushed her. Audience members shrieked and tried to get up, but he had it under control. "Stay tuned, folks! You don't want to move, folks, 'cause there's more excitement coming! As an encore, GeneCo will cure two very sick and needy children! They've been caged up, like they're monsters, by an overbearing father! But tonight, we're going to set him right! And for all your viewing pleasure!"

XxXxX

"Here's hoping this works…." Charlotte muttered, pulling their mother's white robe tightly across her body.

"It will," Gustave said, firmly gripping the shovel in his hand. "Stay hidden."

"Yessir." Charlotte ducked back behind their mother's body, gripping the knife they'd found, a precaution in case the Repo Man came in her direction. Minutes felt like hours, but she finally heard the thump and clatter from behind her. She sprang up, placing one of her bare feet on his chest. "Gustave, get his mask!"

The ten year old made a mad scramble and yanked off the mask. Charlotte's knife slipped from her hands and clattered to the ground. Her father was staring up at her in equal shock and horror. "Didn't I tell you not to go out? Didn't I?" he asked weakly.

"You did… You did…" Charlotte whimpered, backing away. Her father… a Repo Man… a murderer… That was why…

XxXxX

"Didn't I say the world was cruel? Didn't I?" Raoul grasped at every straw he could. But he couldn't see a way out. The children knew now.

"You did… You did…" Gustave's tone was more of disgust than regret.

Then tell me how this happened, what I did wrong, tell me why… Can we just go home, guys, and forget this dreadful night?"

"Didn't you say that you were different? Didn't you?" demanded Charlotte, picking up the helmet as though it were a piece of sewage.

"I am. I am!" He put all his conviction into it, because it was true. He'd never wanted this, never!

"Say you aren't that person! Say it!" She was begging, giving him one last chance for redemption….but he had to give her the truth.

"I am! I am!"

"Then tell us how to act, Dad, what to say, Dad! Tell me why all you've ever told us, every word is a lie!" A projector sparked to life, an image of Meg lying onstage. Her face was bloody, her eyes gone… and an enormous crystal chandelier crushing her body. Charlotte whirled on him, eyes blazing furiously. "Didn't you say that you'd protect us? Didn't you?"

"I tried! I tried!"

"Is that how you'd help us? Is it?" Gustave yelled, jabbing a finger at the picture of Meg.

"I tried! I tried!"

"Don't help us anymore, dad! You are dead, dad, in my eyes! Someone has replaced you! Dad, I hate you! Go and die!" Without another word, Charlotte shoved him aside, and strode out of the room, clinging to Gustave's hand. Raoul was left alone with the body of the woman who'd left him utterly lost for ten years.

"Didn't I build a house, a home, didn't I? Didn't I raise them all alone, didn't I? Then Erik took them from me, stole my children! He's to blame! Have I failed them, Christine?" He caught sight of one last gleaming vial of serum in his bag. Without hesitation, he seized it, and jammed it into his wrist. "Then let the father die! And let the monster rise!"

* * *

><p>AN: Better let that tide y'all over, gottit?


	7. I Remember

*claps* Oooh, we get to start right in the action! Yaay!

XxXxX

Erik continued to pace along the perimeter of the chandelier. "Erik!" He turned to see Charlotte rushing towards him, her mother's robe billowing behind her, Gustave clinging tightly to her hand.

"Children—" He didn't say it alone. Raoul was right behind them. Erik looked at Giovanni and jerked his head in Raoul's directing. Giovanni grinned and slipped out his machete, slicing along Raoul's back.

"Augh!"

"No!" Charlotte blurted, turning back towards her father in horror. Erik knew he had to act quickly.

"You've succeeded all my plans."

"More than you could say for Amber," Giovanni snorted.

"More than I could say for you or your just as worthless brother!" Erik spat. Damn, it felt good to say that.

"We just want to get our cure," Gustave whimpered.

"And I promise to deliver,"Erik replied, taking a step towards his son and reaching out his hand.

"Don't you lay a hand on them," Raoul rasped from the ground.

"Hold your tongue before an elder!"`Erik spat.

"Touch them and I swear I'll kill you!"

"Bring it on, you cheap impostor!" At a signal from Erik, Reza and Daroga jabbed their shockers into Raoul's back. It was time. The curtain parted behind him and he turned still speaking. "Even though I'm terminally ill." Everyone stared at him blankly. "I'm dying, you idiots."

XxXxX

Charlotte's head was spinning. She could barely process everything in her mind. What was going on?

"Ending you will be my pleasure," her father hissed, struggling to rise.

"We no longer trust you, dad," she replied, struggling to stay calm.

"You can never trust a monster," Petrie said, wrapping an arm around her. She tried to wriggle away, remembering what Gerard had told her. She did not want her face going over Petrie's.

"And there's more beneath his mask," Erik interrupted, shepherding her away from his son.

"Mask," Charlotte repeated. Something was tugging at the edges of her memory. Her mother's voice….

"Did you know he killed your mother?"

"What?" Gustave's voice rose in alarm.

"That was just an accident!"

"Accidents don't end in murder."

"And that's not his greatest fib!"

"Someone, tell us, what is going on?" Charlotte demanded, breaking free of Erik's grip and running to her brother.

"Tell them! Tell them!" Erik shouted, and the audience took up the chant. "Tell them! Tell them! Tell them! Tell them! Tell them! Tell them! Tell them! Tell them!"

"No! No more!" Her father's shoulders sagged in defeat and a slow vampiric smile spread across Erik's face.

"May I introduce you to the man who made you sick? He's poisoned all your medicine." The guards stabbed her father again and Charlotte felt a stab in her gut.

"I can't breathe…" Gustave gasped, clutching at the sides of her robe. Charlotte, too, was beginning to feel the symptoms. Her knees buckled and she began to fall backwards.

"You've got to fight through it," Erik's velvety voice whispered, his hands wrapping tightly around her arms.

"Someone, please, please, help my children!" It was getting hard to hear her father.

"Need our pills," Gustave croaked, dropping onto his knees.

"We'll be okay…."

"It's not your fault, it's me who's failed you…"

"Daddy…"

"It's his medicine…"

"I'm the cause of all your sickness." If more was said, neither of the children heard it. Gustave collapsed on the ground, and Charlotte fell backwards into Erik's arms.

TEN YEARS PREVIOUS

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Seven-year-old Charlotte ran into her parents' bedroom, chocolate hair flying behind her.

"Sweetheart," Christine smiled at her daughter and opened her arms. "Come here." Charlotte eagerly hopped onto the bed and snuggled into her mother's arms. "Daddy just called. He should be home from work soon."

"And then he's gonna make us all better, right?"

"That's right." Christine looked out the window and paled for a minute. "Sweetie… go get the door, then go to your room, okay?"

"But I don't want to leave you and the baby alone."

"We'll be fine, I promise. Just go." Charlotte had never heard such a stony tone in her mother's voice before. She headed back down the stairs and opened the door. The white masked face from TV stared down at her.

"Um… hi, Mr. Destler."

"Little Charlotte. Growing prettier every day, I see."

"Yes, sir."

"And your mother is upstairs, I presume?"

"Yes." She ran back upstairs before his creepy eyes could pierce her anymore. From the safety of her bedroom, she pulled out a stethoscope she'd snuck from her father and pressed it against the wall.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here, Erik."

"Christine… Angel, please…"

"NO! I'm through listening to you!"

"Is this because of—"

"It's never been about that, and you know it! It's YOU, Erik! You're not the man I once agreed to marry, you're someone much worse. You've become a monster."

"Give me one more chance—"

"The last time you said that, I ended up p...pinned under you and feeling like a utter idiot! Now, go before Raoul comes back!"

"Oh, and we all know what a terrible thing that would be!"

"Erik, stop it!"

"Tell me you don't love me and I'll go, Christine. But remember, I can make your life hell."

"Every moment you spend in here is hell! Now, get out of my home."

"So be it." Charlotte heard his footsteps along the hall and then her mother's voice.

"Lotte, put the stethoscope down and come here." Her ears turned bright red as she came in. "I don't want you telling your father what you've heard tonight. Now, listen to me. This world is a dangerous place now, because people like Erik are able to hide behind masks."

"Masks, Mommy?"

"Yes, masks. Erik wears a mask that covers not only a ruined face, but a ruined soul. He used to be a very good and kind person, but not anymore. And I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Promise me that you will never let anyone too near your heart until you know what lies behind their mask."

"Okay."

"I'm home!"

"Daddy!" Charlotte squealed, running down the stairs into her father's arms.

"Raoul!"

"Sweetheart. Amour. And baby," Raoul laughed, kissing his daughter's hair, followed by his wife's lip, and then her stomach. "I think I've got it. We're going to fix you both up so you'll be perfect."

"Cause you're the most smartest doctor ever, right, Daddy?" Raoul laughed again, ruffled her hair and picked her up.

"That's right, so why don't we go downstairs so I can make you all better?"

"Raoul, don't encourage her. Bad grammar is a bad habit," Christine chided, slowly making her way down the stairs to the lab, gripping the railing tightly.

"Can I really help spoiling my girls?"

"Oh, I suppose not." Christine ran her fingers along the vials. "So, what's the breakthrough?"

"These." Charlotte watched in awe as her father's hands moved like lightning, mixing chemicals together. After a few moments, he double-tapped the beaker and smiled. "Ready?"

"Bottoms up," her mother said, kissing his cheek and tipping down the liquid in one gulp. Her eyes bulged and she started coughing up blood. "What… what's happening?"

"Mommy!"

"Charlotte, stay back!" Raoul yelled, catching Christine as she fell backwards.

"Daddy, what's wrong?"

"GO! NOW! Call for help!" Charlotte ran back upstairs, and grabbed the phone, dialing the three numbers. 9-1-1….

"Hello?"

"It's my mommy! She drank something my daddy made, and now she's really sick! Please, please, hurry!"

"Um…. Alright…" Charlotte hung up, just as a spasm of coughing wreaked her body and she passed out.

NOW

Her eyes slowly flickered open. She was lying on a little gondola shaped bed, Gustave unconscious on the ground in the pool of Meg's blood. She slowly raised herself up, trying to muffle the pounding of her head as old memories rushed in. She remembered everything. She slowly lowered her feet to the ground and tried to stand. She felt Erik's hands clamp down on her again and whisper in her ear. "Your mother once promised her love to me. Had she never fled, you would have been mine, too."

"Too?" Gustave groaned, turning over so he could sit up.

"Gustave…" Erik left Charlotte's side to help him up gently. "MY son."

"No… that would mean…" Charlotte gasped. "That night… I remember now…My mother… you hurt our family."

"Charlotte. Just because your mother was a fool does not mean you have to be. What do you owe your father, really? What has he ever done for you?"

"I won't let you hurt our family again! Get away from my brother! NOW!" Erik's face hardened.

"Charlotte, don't be stupid."

"Didn't you hear me, you masked freak?" she screamed, running up at him and tearing the mask away from his face. Everyone in the audience screamed. Erik looked her with absolute venom. "Oh, my God…"

"A little bitch just like her mother, aren't we?" he snarled, striking her to the side. "Another disappointment!"

"And you're a monster."

"Only because the world has made me so. If you don't want this, then shut up."

"Dick," she muttered, trying to brush the blood off her robe.

"Gustave. Listen to me. Deny the person who has only ever lied to you, who has only hurt you, for the world to see. Kill him." He pressed a gun into her little brother's hands.

"KILL HIM!" Giovanni yelled gleefully.

"No…" Charlotte and Gustave whispered in mutual horror.

"And I'll leave you GeneCo."

"What?" This time, Charlotte's squeak of surprise was synchronized with Giovanni's.

"All of it?" Petrie wailed.

"Oh, yes!"

"Oh, no!"

"So, witness it, people! All I have to do is sign the paper! All he has to do is pull the trigger! I want you to do what is right! This man killed your mother!"

"You… want...him...to...kill...my father? You want him to kill our father, you want him to kill!" Charlotte yanked the gun out her brother's hand and pointed it at Erik. "No! We are not murderers!"

"But it is in your genetics! What if it's been passed to you?"

"We don't have to share your choices!" she spat, shoving the gun into his hands, and grabbing Gustave's hand.

"Didn't you say you were infected? Didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?"

"Don't look back. We're leaving," Charlotte urged, squeezing his hand.

"Char!" She had to look back now… it was her father… "I poisoned you. I'm worse than Erik, imprisoned you… I couldn't lose you! What have I done? Forgive me, children, I drugged your blood… Oh, God, what have I done to you?"

Most people have a breaking point, and for Charlotte, this was it. Seeing her father so shattered, being compared to her mother more times in twelve hours than in the past ten years, getting slammed around by a man who looked like he had a burnt pizza on his face, and having her memories returned … she'd had enough. She snatched the gun back, and clenched it in both of her fists. "You used our mother's death to use our father! You'd use my father's death to use us, too!"

"Your dad deserved whatever happened to him! He needed me and so do you!"

"I remember…" Raoul rasped out. "Remember my mistakes, remember you can change! Remember that I love you! I'm sorry that I've failed you! Remember that it's up to you to go and shape your life into one that's worthy of remembering!"

"SHUT UP!" Erik yelled. The lights flickered out and Charlotte felt the gun get yanked out of her hands.

"NO!" she screamed as a gun shot rang out. Her father grunted in pain, and her instincts kicked in as she rushed to help him. "Dad, no! Daddy, please, don't leave me! I'm sorry! Daddy!"

"Ungrateful idiots… money-grubbing beggars! Get out of here!" Erik was coughing now and Charlotte felt a bitter sense of justice that he was dying the same way her mother had. "I don't need you, any of you! You disgust me! And you! You're not my daughter! Gus...tave…."

"You're not my father," Gustave said coldly. Charlotte felt his little hand on her elbow.

"The world won't remember….how lucky they were to have Erik Destler…" There was a loud thud and Charlotte let out a tiny sigh of relief. He was gone.

"Gustave. Help me… " she urged, unbuckling the straps binding her father to the chair. Raoul groaned, trying to adjust his position. "Dad, be still. There is nothing you need say… it can wait…"

"Guys… your mom… she's calling me…" He reached up to stroke her hair, and Gustave took it, singing their old lullaby.

"Sometimes, I wanted to cry when the people on TV were not quite the way we were, somehow I guess I just knew…."

Charlotte joined in softly. "But I didn't know I love you so much…. I didn't know I love you so much… I didn't know I love you so much, but I do…."

Raoul winced in pain, smiling up at them. "Sometimes, I'd stay up all night, wishing to God that I was the one who'd died, sometimes there's not enough time…. But I didn't know I love you so much, I didn't know I love you so much, didn't know I love you so much, but I do…."

"Didn't know we love you so much…"

"Didn't know I love you so much…"

"We didn't know we love you so much, but we do…"

"Children… go…"

Gustave shook his head. "Dad, we will not leave you here, you will live."

"But you've already saved me, kid. Now, go and change the world for me…."

Charlotte finished the song with him softly. "And we will always have each other, in our time of need…"

"You were both the world to me…" With that, Raoul's eyes glassed over, and his hand slipped down.

"DAD! DAD, NO!" Charlotte buried her face in his chest, sobbing furiously. "Daddy, please…"

"We're alone now…."

"Years…" she whispered bitterly. "It's been so many years, resenting the years and our heredity…. Oh, we have hated and loved you…. We have hidden behind you, but I finally see…" She rose slowly and confidently, and started down the stage towards the exit. "You we've mistaken for destiny, but the truth is, our legacy is not up to our genes…True, though the imprint is deep in me, it will always be up to me...up to me…"

"Oh...free at last…. Oh...free at last…." Gustave's voice joined hers as the doors opened to reveal the limo.

THE NEXT DAY

Gerard examined the newspapers, rolling his eyes. "Damn, I wish they'd all move on!"

"I know, right?" He turned to see Charlotte leaning lazily against the wall.

"Princess…. I mean, Charlotte…"

"I'd ask how you know my name, but I'm guessing it's from the tabloids," she rolled her eyes, picking at her fingernails. "Honestly, the world didn't know I even existed until yesterday."

"Yeah, well, c'est la vie. So, come for your cure? Oh, wait, you never needed one."

"Hahaha, very funny," Gustave grumbled, emerging from behind his sister.

"Hey, look! It's the heir of GeneCo!"

"We're not ever letting GeneCo into our lives again," Gustave said coolly. "That's part of why we're here, Gerard."

"Really?"

"We're getting out of here. We've got the money and resources, all we need is a chaperone. And who better for getting off the island than the most wanted Grave Robber around?" Charlotte flipped her hair and batted her eyelashes. "Any interest in giving us a hand?"

"Oh, I'm going to give you a hell of a lot more than a hand," Gerard said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

XxXxX

GeneCo, in the absence of its legal heirs, passed into the hands of Amber Sweet. As a symbol of GeneCo's commitment to change, she auctioned off every one of her old faces to charity. The top three bidders were murdered by Giovanni, who was later committed to a mental institution, and Petrie won the auction, wearing his sister's fallen faces with pride.

Charlotte de Chagny, Gustave Destler, and Gerard Carriere apparently disappeared off the face of the earth, along with all of Blind Meg Giry's legacy. A few months later, a young singer named Jennifer Ramsey appeared in Paris as the Voice of the GeneCo Resistance, who bore a striking resemblance to the missing de Chagny. The Resistance continues to gain momentum, fighting against GeneCo's dominance over the globe and working towards a world where people will finally be free of the horror that is the Repo Man.

And so… the saga continues.

* * *

><p>AN: But the fic is over.


End file.
